Collaborators include: Hamilton Smith, who received a Nobel Prize in the category of medicine or physiology, and Clyde Hutchison, a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

J. Craig Venter, the La Jolla biologist who played a key role in decoding the human genome, said Thursday that his team has made the world’s first “synthetic cell,” an advance that eventually could help and hurt humanity.

Venter and his colleagues basically figured out how to design a bacterial cell on a computer. Then they used genetic engineering and chemicals that are essential for life to produce an entity that’s novel but not yet a truly living version of anything that occurs naturally.

This “is the first self-replicating species that we have on the planet whose parent is a computer,” said Venter, who was careful to add that he had not created new life from scratch.

Instead, he said his work in synthetics is meant to more clearly reveal how real cells work. Such research could lead to cleaner fuels, better vaccines and, on the dark side, pathogens used by terrorists.

Venter also said the discovery will invigorate synthetic biology, a field in which he has a deep financial interest. He co-founded Synthetic Genomics in La Jolla, which is trying to use genomics to create commercial products. His backers include Exxon Mobil Corp., which is paying millions for the company’s efforts to produce a new generation of biofuels.

His work over the years also has received major funding from the National Institutes of Health and other agencies that fight illness and disease.

Thursday’s announcement drew mixed reaction from scientists and ethicists. It’s also bound to generate controversy among various religious groups.

“This sounds like the (biological) chassis (that Venter) has been talking about forever, but it doesn’t, at present, have any practical use,” said John H. Evans, a sociologist at the University of California San Diego.

Nobel Prize winner David Baltimore called the milestone “a technical tour de force.” But he also said, “To my mind, Craig has somewhat overplayed the importance of this. … He has not created life, only mimicked it.”

Lawrence Hinman, a philosopher at the University of San Diego, said, “Obviously, much work needs to be done, but this is a crucial step forward in our ability not only to understand life but also to create it. It is from this that Venter’s discovery derives what will, I think, be its symbolic power.”

The finding was made by a national team of scientists, many of whom work at the J. Craig Venter Institute, which has laboratories in La Jolla and Rockville, Md. Their experiments involved assembly and production work carried out at a very tiny scale.

Specifically, scientists assembled pieces of DNA that were produced in the lab. This resulted in a longer strand of DNA that was designed to replicate the genetic code of a particular type of bacteria. That “loop,” as it is called, was placed in the hollow cell of a different type of bacteria.

The new synthetic DNA then assumed the role of the original DNA, which had been removed. This formed a synthetic cell that replicated, Venter said.

On Thursday, the institute outlined how the new technique differs from more conventional engineering.

“Most genetic alterations that people know about today are through engineering of crops, which involves adding or altering less than 10 genes out of the tens of thousands that are contained in most organisms or plants,” the researchers said in a statement.

“Synthetic genomics is different in that scientists start with digital information in the computer, which allows for the design of entire synthetic chromosomes to replace existing chromosomes in cells.”

The self-replicating synthetic bacteria unveiled Thursday has more than 1 million base pairs of DNA and almost 1,000 genes, the scientists said.

“It involves the complete replacement of genetic material in the cell,” they added.

Evans at UCSD said: “Some might say that (Venter) is playing God by trying to invent life-forms. I would argue that in this case, that’s not particularly relevant. American society already accepts intervening with life-forms all around us. … If you were to create the first synthetic human, that would obviously be a different story.”

Venter shares his vision for applying technology

J. Craig Venter of La Jolla said his team’s creation of a “synthetic cell” has altered his perspective of life. Here are his other thoughts during an interview Thursday:

QUESTION: What did you create?

ANSWER: This is the first “synthetic cell” that is controlled by a synthetic chromosome. The DNA came from four bottles of chemicals, and the design of the cell was done on the computer.

QUESTION: But this isn’t the kind of cell that would be placed in a human, right?

ANSWER: No, it is a laboratory cell. It has relatives that affect cows and goats, but it wouldn’t be placed in people.

QUESTION: Could you tell us more about the significance of the cell?

ANSWER: It is a living species. It is self-replicating. Its only genetic code is what we built into it chemically. Every protein is dictated by that genetic code. This is a new, independent species whose origin was the computer, not some genetic relative.

QUESTION: What’s the next step for your research?

ANSWER: We’re working on applying technology. Synthetic Genomics in La Jolla is where we have a program with Exxon to use algal material to create new fuel sources. It is a $300 million deal, and we think we will need new tools (like the ones used to create the cell) to produce billions of gallons of fuel on an economical basis.

We’re also trying to work with the National Institutes of Health and other agencies to develop vaccines against infectious disease. There are a lot of research avenues to follow involving biology, food, clean water and things that you and I can’t imagine.

QUESTION: How quickly would some of these things become available?

ANSWER: Well, the vaccine you get immunized with next year against the flu might be created with synthetic genomics.

We’ve said that our program with Exxon is on the order of a decade before we have (new) fuels for cars. We have learned not to overpromise. We want to overdeliver.

QUESTION: Is it true that you briefed President Barack Obama’s administration on this advancement?

ANSWER: That is accurate. We also briefed members of Congress last week. We are building on work that started in 2003 with money from the Department of Energy. Our work was reviewed by the White House because it involves powerful technology that has some potential for creating agents that could do harm. We are working with the administration on that matter.

There is a modest risk, but any risk is something that we want to deal with. We also want to do the proper ethical reviews. This involves a philosophical view of life.

QUESTION: Did your work on the synthetic cell change your view of life?

ANSWER: Absolutely. It showed how dynamic life is. Real cells change from second to second, even though their structure looks fixed. If you take away their genetic code, the species dies.

Software-dependent species (like the synthetic cell) also are constantly performing cell functions, but we were surprised by how quickly they evolved.

The New York Times News Service contributed to this report. Gary Robbins: (619) 293-1228; gary.robbins@uniontrib.com

The New York Times News Service contributed to this report. Gary Robbins: (619) 293-1228; gary.robbins@uniontrib.com